


Next Step

by IBoatedHere



Series: Post Bleachers: Domestic Bliss [5]
Category: Turn (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background Anna/Selah, Drunk Abe, Drunk Arguing, Drunk Ben, M/M, accidental Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-06-03 10:44:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6607777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IBoatedHere/pseuds/IBoatedHere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anna gets engaged. Abe doesn't handle it very well. Ben and Caleb are collateral damage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Next Step

“Well, we have the space…..”

Ben comes home two hours late from his internship at the mayor's office looking tired and annoyed with his phone tucked against his ear and his shoulder. 

“I guess we could do something this weekend. Tonight? Okay, I mean I guess,” he continues. “You can crash here.”

Caleb has been watching him from the couch with his own books and laptop strewn across the coffee table and mouths, _who is that?_

“Okay, guess I'll see you tomorrow.”

“Who was that?”

“Abe. He just found out Anna is engaged.”

“Selah finally asked her?”

“Yes and Abe is handling it exactly how you'd expect him to be handling it.”

He drops his bag and falls on the couch next to Caleb.

“So now we have to take him out tonight and he's staying over.”

Caleb groans.

“It'll be fun. It'll be good to see him again and in the morning you can make him those pancakes with the chunks of chocolate in them. Fun.”

“I have so much work to do.”

“Yeah me too but Abe is….Abe and if he’s going to be drinking I’d rather him have some kind of supervision. He’d call one of us to bail him out of jail or pick him up off the sidewalk after someone beats him up anyways. We can take the surprise out of it. We’ll go out, get him drunk, he’s small it shouldn’t take long, and haul him back here where he’ll sleep it off, eat breakfast in the morning and be gone before you have to leave for work.”

“You planned that out fast.”

“That’s what my internship is all about. Putting out fires before they spread now get up, put some pants on, find your shoes, and get ready because he’s going to be here in about fifteen minutes.”

 

*****

 

Abe shows up exactly fifteen minutes later already tipsy and telling them how the cab driver agreed with him about Selah. 

“I think I tipped him too much though,” He tells Ben and Caleb as they pull on their coats. 

Caleb looks him over and says “you took a cab all the way from the city, I don't think under tipping is possible.”

“I should have told him to stay. Now we have to get another one.”

“You don’t need to. Caleb is driving.”

“Caleb!” Abe exclaims and throws an arm around his shoulders. “Now you won’t be able to drink with us.”

“Caleb has work in the morning, Abe,” Ben says gently as he untangles Abe’s arm from around Caleb’s shoulder. 

“You can drink with me though, right Ben?”

“I can have a few.”

“Just a few? I've already had a few and the night is young my friend.”

 

*****

 

“I just don’t get Selah. I don’t get where he came from.”

Caleb’s arms are crossed over his chest and Ben has his cheek resting in his palm and they’re both watching Abe in amazement.

They’ve been at the bar for an hour and Caleb hasn’t had a thing to drink, Ben is nursing his second beer and Abe has had a bottle or glass to his lips every time he’s taken a breath between sentences. The waitress can’t keep up with the amount of bottles he’s running through and there’s a pile of them accumulating on the table. He hasn’t slowed down at all. Caleb thought they’d be home by now.

“Abe,” Ben’s trying so hard to play peacekeeper, “we’ve known Selah all our lives. He’s a good guy.”

“We’ve known of him but we don’t know him. How come he never hung out with us, huh? There’s obviously something he doesn't want us to know.”

“You sound paranoid.” Caleb says flatly. 

“Do I or do you?”

“What?”

Abe continues on unperturbed. “Why did he wait until after high school to start dating Anna? Why not make a move then? What’s he hiding?”

“So you’re saying it would have been better if we were close friends with him in high school and started seeing Anna then. You wouldn’t have a problem with it.”

“No because then they would be high school sweethearts and that’s gross, am I right?”

“Um no,” Ben says as Caleb says “what do you think we are?”

Abe waves them off, almost tipping over a bottle in the process. Ben catches it right before it slips off the table. “You two are different. I know you guys. I’ve known you for years.”

“You’ve known Selah for longer than you’ve known me,” Caleb points out.

“Yes but I don’t really know him,” Abe says and back on the tangent about Selah having something to hide. 

“Oh my god,” Ben mumbles and promptly gives up on trying to reason with him. 

 

*****

 

“And…..” Abe pauses to take a drink. They’ve been two hours and he’s definitely starting to slur his speech. “He’s suspiciously successful. Already. He hasn’t even graduated yet and he’s already got plans to open a restaurant.”

This is the most interesting thing Abe has said all night. 

“Selah’s opening a restaurant?”

“A bar-restaurant thing. A Gastropub, whatever the fuck those things are.”

“Do you know if he’s looking for a cook?”

“Caleb, you should call him.”

“Do you have his number? I should ask Anna, I can’t believe she didn’t tell me.”

“I can’t believe you’re using my pain to network. This is just great. Ben you're gonna be the president and Caleb, you're going to be this hip world class chef at Selah’s critically acclaimed bar and the first man or whatever- probably bringing food to starving kids somewhere on your time off and I'm gonna be what? A lawyer who has to work for his dad? No one likes lawyers.”

“A lot of people don't like the president.”

“Ben. Look at you. You're beautiful. Everyone is going to love you.”

“Okay I think you've had enough to drink.”

“What? No way.” Abe makes a swipe for his glass and successfully gets it away from Caleb. “Why would you think that?”

“When you start hitting on my boyfriend you’ve had enough.”

“Never enough. Need all the alcohol.” He pulls all the drinks towards his chest and out of Caleb’s reach. “Aren't they too young to get married anyways. I feel like I'm too young to get married? How about you? Are you ready to get married?”

He directs the question at Caleb and Caleb laughs hard enough that he doesn’t see the way Ben’s eyebrows pull together.

“No way.”

“See that makes sense because you’re young and have plenty of time. I can’t even imagine getting married right now. How would I pay for it? I bet they want to have a huge wedding with tons of people and a fancy dress and a huge cake and it’s all a waste of money since they’ll probably be divorced within a year.”

“That’s a little dark. You wanna slow down there, Ben?”

Across the table Ben has been chugging his beer and flags down the waitress to order another.

“You're always saying that I need to relax so I'm going to relax.”

“Okay,” Caleb says slowly, unsure about what has caused the sudden outburst of energy. Ben was practically asleep with his head on the table two minutes ago. “Remember you have things to do tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry about me,” he says and doesn’t break eye contact with him as he lifts his drink off the waitresses tray and downs it in one go. 

 

*****

 

Twenty minutes later Caleb has lost control of the situation. 

Abe is trying to pick a fight with a guy three times his size and Ben is trying to hustle a guy at pool. There is a stack of twenties on the pooltable and Ben doesn't know how to play pool so Caleb has to step in. 

“Ben,” he slides the money back into his pocket and the guys he’s playing with groan. “Don’t you think it’s time to go home? Abe is about to get his ass kicked.” He eyes the situation with Abe warily. 

“Oh, what else is new?” Ben maneuvers around Caleb and starts to line up a shot. “Abe can’t cross a street without getting his ass kicked.”

Caleb lays his hand over the pool stick. Ben rolls his eyes, severely, and Caleb gently says “honey.”

“Honey,” Ben parrots back louder. The guys he’s playing with don’t bat an eye. “I’m having fun. For once.”

“You’ve been having fun for a long time now and when you wake up tomorrow with the biggest hangover you’ve ever had-.”

“Sucks for future me.”

“Ben, please.”

Ben props his hip against the table and looks at him for a long moment. He looks angry and annoyed and it’s too hot and loud in the bar and Caleb just wants to take him and go home. He’ll come back for Abe later. 

Ben rolls his eyes, again, and his shoulders slump. He’s giving in. “Fine.”

Ben is already out the door when Caleb grabs Abe by the collar and drags him away still yelling at the guy the whole time.

 

*****

 

It’s hell to get them both in the jeep and buckled.

Their drunkenness seems to feed off one another. 

Whenever he gets one settled and goes to work on the second the first has unbuckled, opened their door and tried to make a run for it back to the bar. Neither of them make it very far. Just a few steps away from the jeep before they collapse in giggles and Caleb has to hoist them back up into their seat.

With the help of the child lock Caleb finally gets them both in. 

Ben doesn’t say a thing the whole ride back. 

Abe tells them his theory that Selah is actually an undercover agent sent to spy on the government and braids Ben’s hair. 

 

*****

 

“Let's just throw him on the couch.”

They had to carry Abe up the stairs. Caleb is supporting him under his arms and Ben has his feet. 

“No, spare room, that’s why we have it.”

Abe is small but heavy and absolute dead weight when he’s drunk so it’s a real struggle to get him on the bed. 

Sturges is circling them, licking Abe’s face and thumping his tail against everyone’s legs. 

Ben doesn’t even look like he’s trying to help.

“You know, this was your idea,” Caleb tells him as Abe slips off the bed and onto the floor. Abe laughs as Sturges flops down on his lap. “You could at least pretend to help.”

“Sorry I’m not good enough.”

“Okay, what is the matter with you? I’ve never seen you act like this before.”

Ben doesn’t get flat out drunk very often. He’s busy and doesn’t have the necessary time to sleep it off because he either has to get to class or to his internship. Sometimes he has a few beers on a Friday night after a long day and he gets very chatty and soft and lies in the couch with his feet in Caleb’s lap and tells him about his day until he eventually falls asleep. 

He’s never like this.

“Nothing’s the matter with me,” Ben mumbles as he picks Abe backup. Abe pulls at his hair. “I’m fine.”

“You're clearly not so you might as well tell me.”

“Like you don't already know.” There's a slur to his speech and they get Abe's legs on the bed but his forehead is resting soundly on the ground. He's singing the National Anthem. 

“I really don't. What the hell is going on with you? Why do I have to deal with two drunken toddlers right now instead of just one?”

“So now I’m immature. Is that why you don’t want to marry me?”

Caleb is blindsided. 

Abe accordions down off the bed and lands at a pile at Ben’s feet.

“What? I’ve never said that.”

“Tonight. Abe asked you if you wanted to get married and you said-.”

“I said we weren’t ready.” 

“It was the way you said it, like it's never even crossed your mind before.”

“It's crossed my mind. It has. A lot.”

“Yeah right.” Ben hoists Abe onto the bed by himself.

“It has, the way we are now is how I want it to be. Without the yelling, of course. But yeah, you and me and rings all all that. I think about it.”

“Then why did you laugh so hard?”

“Because the thought of us getting married right now is ridiculous.”

“Why is it so ridiculous? It’s not like we’re getting any younger.”

“We are twenty one years old.”

“Almost twenty two.”

“We’re both in school, which was your idea by the way, we both work, we only see each other at the end of the day right before we go to bed….”

“So it’s my fault?”

“It’s not anyone’s fault,” Caleb fights to keep his voice in check. It’s late and they have neighbors. He takes a few breaths and asks “do you want to get married?”

“Yes.” 

They stare across the bed at each other listening to Abe sing Amazing Grace completely unaware of what’s going on around him. 

Ben takes a deep breath. “Are you asking me right now?”

“No. I don't know. Maybe.”

Ben stands up straight and recoils. “I'm not ready to get married.”

“Oh my god you need to go to bed right now, I can't talk to you about this for one more second.”

“You’re blaming me again.”

“I didn't say that. Can't we just go to bed? I want us to go to bed.”

“I’m not going to be with you. I’m mad at you. You sleep here.”

“I am not sleeping in the spare room. I want my own bed. Let’s go.”

“I said I’m not sleeping with you and I meant it. We’re fighting. This is why we have this room.”

“How are we still fighting? I just said I wanted to marry you.”

“Yeah after I dragged it out of you.”

Caleb throws his hands up in frustration. “Fine. You sleep here. I don’t care right now.”

“I know you don’t care,” he says as he tugs at Abes arm.

“What are you doing? It took us twenty minutes to get him up there.”

“I’m not sleeping in the same bed as him.”

“Sleep on the couch.”

“In my own apartment, no way. Help me get him to the couch.”

“That’s where I wanted him in the first place. I’m tired. I have a headache and I have homework I need to finish before work tomorrow so I have to go to bed. You figure this out on your own.”

Caleb leaves him to it. He’s going to take a shower and drink a glass of water to wash down a couple of advil and go to sleep. 

He just turning on the water when he hears Abe hit the floor. 

 

*****

 

When Caleb comes in the next morning Abe is spooning Sturges on the floor and Ben is stretched out on the bed with one shoe missing. 

Caleb’s careful not to spill the coffee when he sits on the bed next to his hip. He’s only taken a few sips when Ben begins to stir. 

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Ben says groggily as he reaches for the coffee. “Haven’t we done this before?”

“Yup. Other way around but yup.”

“We should’ve learned.”

“It’s going to take some time.”

“Why is Abe on the floor?”

“Because you didn’t want to sleep in the same bed with him. Drunk you was surprisingly sober about that.” He folds one leg over the other and sits down. “So.”

“Did you propose last night?”

“Not really.”

“Good.”

Caleb laughs sarcastically. “That’s what we were fighting about.”

“I didn’t mean good like I’m glad you didn’t propose I meant good like I’m glad you didn’t propose last night.” He winces around the edge of the mug. “If that makes sense.”

“I think-.”

“I’m just saying when you do ask me-or I ask you- I don’t want it to be like that. I want it to be...special,” he cringes, “I guess. It’s not something that should be asked that way. You know, as a way to shut me up when I’m drunk and obnoxious.”

“So you admit to being obnoxious?”

“Sometimes.” Ben ducks his head and looks up at Caleb through his lashes. “Do you still want to ask me to marry you someday?”

Caleb shrugs and shakes his head and Ben shoves at his shoulder causing some coffee to spill out the side of the mug. He makes a show of wiping it on Caleb’s jeans. 

Caleb’s laughing when he pulls Ben in by the back of his neck and kisses his forehead. 

“Drink your coffee. Wake up Abe. I’ll go make breakfast.”


End file.
